For me, writing has always been the selfish, self-serving act of telling myself a story – Khaled Hosseini

Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life

I really like the idea of this week‘s Weekly Photo Challenge: brings a street to life.

Looking through my pictures, I found the most suitable street that has served thousands of lives for thousands of years. It is the Primorsky Boulevard in Odessa, Ukraine.

When I first arrive in the city, I thought a street that brought Odessa to life is Deribasovskaya Street, what with the shops and restaurants decorated with lush greenery (which actually reminded me of Bandung a little bit) and all.

Leaving Deribasovskaya Street, I then arrived at Primorsky Boulevard. My (usual) first thought on the boulevard was: what is it with all the concrete? It really does not represent life!

But I could not be more wrong. I went out for my walk in an afternoon (around 4-5 pm) of May and from what I saw, people were out living their lives: benches were filled and kids were running around. I could imagine that the boulevard will be even more crowded during summer.

The coolest thing is that the sign of life does not only appear on the street level. Archeologists found signs of life underground. The remains of life found along this boulevard (like the one pictured on the right) are said to be from the city’s first settler: the Ancient Greek. This is (by far) my favourite spot in Ukraine (though, I still am not a big fan of the concrete path) – I mean, how often can you hangout in a city centre that is also an archeological site?

If I were to handle a marketing gig for Primorsky Boulevard, my tagline would be something like,

“Primorsky Boulevard: bringing a street to life since the Archaic period!”

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I pray that the situation in Ukraine will soon be resolved and everyone could safely visit the country again. My time in Ukraine was too short(I only stayed in two cities and a village in the countryside) and I wish to be able to travel there again later in life.

Hello again, Cathy.
Thank you very much for making it to my blog again and also for your super kind words. Let’s all pray that Ukraine can be a peaceful country as it once was. Have an amazing day to you, too! 🙂